Big Day for Animals

In coming to Florida the kids learned a lot about the local wildlife. We saw alligators at the zoo yesterday. Hope's biggest wish was to see a real dolphin. So, in crossing Banana River to head to the beach today I reminded them to keep an eye out for dolphins and Sarah saw one! It was hanging out next to the bridge. We quickly stopped and when he surfaced the first time we could have reached out and touched him he was so close! We watched for a good 15 minutes in awe. As we were preparing to the leave, not more than 15 feet away this giant tail came out of nowhere and we all recognized the classic manatee! He sat in the water within view for awhile, but never resurfaced for us. Still it was quite exciting!

We then headed off for a fun day at the beach! We spent several hours there, just our little family and Sarah. The water was great! However, our neighbors, well, let's just say shocking!!! The 2 ladies next to us were sun bathing in the buff, or nearly. They at least had the decency to keep their bottoms on, though there were little left to the imagination with their tiny string bikinis. And yes, they were topless, and NO Cape Canaveral is NOT a nudist beach! The shock on several of the men's faces walking by was priceless! Sarah and I couldn't stop laughing at one in particular. He was kinda creepy and kept walking back and forth pacing in front of them. He would openly gawk, then sit and just stare at them, get up and pace, the sit on the other side of them and stare. It was crazy!!!

There were also 2 fisherman just past the bathing nudies and one of them caught a large sting ray. He was probably a good 3 foot in wing span. The kids enjoyed watching him real him in, then set him loose again. We spent the rest of the time building sand castles so Bethany could destroy them and catching minnows. Roman and Sarah also did some boogie boarding.

After that we headed back to the house for a swim in the pool and dinner. After dinner we kidnapped Andrew (he was finishing a final!) and headed back to the beach for an evening walk. This time to Cocoa Beach as Andrew wanted to show us where he works. He works at an Inn in Cocoa Beach about a mile from the pier. We met the two dogs that live at the Inn and headed for the beach. We started towards the pier, not expecting to actually make it. Roman and Bethany of course headed straight for the water and wasn't long before they were drenched, despite numerous threats and attempts to keep them from the water. They didn't grasp the concept of walking on the beach. Why go to the beach and not get wet?? Kids! About 3/4ths of the way to the pier Sarah remembered it was karaoke night there, so we set off to join the fun. Of course we all arrive in bare feet, covered in sand, no money, and 2 dripping kids, but hey, it's the beach! No one even gave us a second look. After 1 fantastic singer, and too many horrific ones to count, much griping from Andrew about wasting so much time there, and 2 sleeping kids, Sarah's turn finally came. She same Redneck Woman by Gretchen Wilson and did fantastic!!! It was great and lots of fun.

On the way back to the Inn Hope announced she had to pee.... NOW. Andrew weighed the options, grabbed her and ran back to the pier. We saw her riding on his back as he ran thinking, what an idiot! LOL NO WAY would have put her on my back! LOL We knew all was fine when they returned later the same way. Once back at the Inn Andrew gave us a tour of the hotel. It was neat for the kids to see what goes on behind the scenes. He also took us back to meet his birds. Andrew was hired on 2 years ago primarily to maintain 2 Macaws that live on the property. Although he does many other things for them now, he still also take cares of the birds. One red, one blue, they are absolutely gorgeous! They are too big and their claws too sharp for the kids to handle, but they did get to pet them and we got pictures (again, if Sarah will send them to me, I'll post some!).

After a dolphin, a manatee, a sting ray, 2 macaws, a full day in the sun and water, plus a 2 mile walk on the beach, the kids crashed hard!